Who is the current favorite Late Night Talk Show host?

[LChinoz]

Oh lord, I remember when he hosted the Daily Show. Always came off as an arrogant ass to me.

Personally, I have enjoyed Conan more over the years, but Fergeson is very good as well. Can't stand Leno. Letterman is OK. Carson was great. Also enjoyed Arsenio Hall as a youngster. Who else would interview Jason Voorhees or have a wrestling match on his show?

I don't know all the details of what's going on now, but if Leno got better ratings than Conan, I can't argue the business side. Sucks for Conan, but does he actually deserve anything? He's a multi-millionaire. I feel no real pity for the guy losing the gig, but would be saddened that I wouldn't be able to catch his show more often. Leno is not remotely funny and annoys me, but it isn't surprising to me that millions of Americans would want to watch his mind-numbing nonsense every night.

Actually they are moving Leno because his ratings suck ass too...and stations across the country are mad because the show is a weak lead-in to their local news programs. Conan isn't doing great, but the most important thing is that the Leno experiment failed. How could NBC and Leno even think he could have competed with the likes of CSI and other prime time shows...now they want to find a way to keep Leno and Conan, while keeping them all happy and getting rid of Leno at 10pm.

 

[PapitoMX]

Conan all the way!!!!!!!!

 

[galactiboy]

To be honest I don't watch any of them... just not my thing. But I did always enjoy Conan and if I were to return to any show it would be his; so he gets my vote. Before him I watched Letterman, but got kind of bored with him about 7 or 8 years ago.

Always disliked Leno; just seems like a giant ******.

 

[karamazov80]

Actually they are moving Leno because his ratings suck ass too...and stations across the country are mad because the show is a weak lead-in to their local news programs.

Right, but Leno's ratings on the Tonight Show were better than Conan's are now, right? Why else would they try to replace Conan with Leno now?

 

[LChinoz]

Right, but Leno's ratings on the Tonight Show were better than Conan's are now, right? Why else would they try to replace Conan with Leno now?

Correct. And they would give Leno his old time slot, but he would only have a half hour show, and Conan would still host "The Tonight Show." There is always a transition period, Leno's ratings were not up to par with Carson's his first few months in...I mean give Coco a chance. Giving Leno the prime time slot was the big mistake made by NBC.

 

[Deckard]

Right, but Leno's ratings on the Tonight Show were better than Conan's are now, right? Why else would they try to replace Conan with Leno now?

Thats not what their doing, their saying that because no one is watching Leno, they don't have an audience already on their channel when Conan comes on right after him. So instead of getting a lead in audience from people who were watching Leno, they depend soley on people tuning in when Conan starts. Its like a conveinace thing, if one program ends but the program after it is good, people won't change the channel, the problem is their aren't enough people watching Leno to begin with.

So they push Leno closer to his old time slot but shorten the show to only 30 minutes, that gets him out of primetime competion with shows like CSI or House, and allows him to retain his old time slot audience. The shorter time also takes pressure off the writers and then they hopefully have a bigger audience for when Conan comes on.

Conan does just fine, he even use to have reruns on Comedy Central. No other late night show I know of has gone into syndication.

 

[TheObsoleteMan]

Conan. He's the only one that's genuinely funny and creative, and none of the others can touch his improv skills. I do wish he were still on the late night time slot though. The earlier slot has sucked some of the weirdness out of the show. No way would you see something like Pimpbot 5000 now.

 

[LChinoz]

From MSN News

What will Conan O'Brien do?
Jan. 11, 2010, 11:54 AM EST

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- Television's late-night drama now shifts to Conan O'Brien's state of mind: Would he be happy to again have the after-midnight spot on NBC or could he find a comfortable home at Fox an hour earlier?

O'Brien's decision is key to whether NBC's fragile compromise plan to mollify angry affiliates and return Jay Leno to his old 11:35 p.m. time slot will work. NBC confirmed it wants Leno to do a half hour show, with O'Brien to follow at 12:05 a.m. EST under the "Tonight" show banner.

Fox, whose executives meet with reporters Monday to talk about the issue, has expressed some interest in O'Brien and could offer him a show that starts at 11 p.m. EST.

Video: Craig Ferguson on Leno-Conan drama

O'Brien had waited five years after being promised the "Tonight" show and its time slot after the late local news, moving his family and staff from New York to California. That chance lasted half a year. A spokeswoman for O'Brien did not immediately return a request for comment on Monday.
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NBC Universal Television Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gaspin said he had given Leno, O'Brien and Jimmy Fallon (whose show would start at 1:05 a.m.) the weekend to think about the plan.

"I would love the three of them to stay at NBC," Gaspin said.

Gaspin said he was forced to make the move because Leno's low ratings at 10 p.m. were subsequently hurting the ratings of local affiliates for their late news, costing significant advertising revenue. Some were even threatening to take Leno's show off the air and run their own programming.

O'Brien's run at "Tonight" hasn't been particularly successful. NBC's ratings have dropped dramatically since the time Leno was the host, and O'Brien has fallen behind CBS' David Letterman. NBC has said it was satisfied because O'Brien was doing fairly well among a youthful audience that is more valuable to advertisers.

Fox could potentially offer an 11 p.m. time slot, giving O'Brien the jump on both Leno and Letterman.

That's where Arsenio Hall thrived — briefly — with a syndicated talk show that aired mostly on Fox stations from 1989 to 1994. Other Fox attempts to establish a late-night beachhead with Joan Rivers and Chevy Chase failed spectacularly. In O'Brien's favor: He attracts a younger audience, which Fox seeks.

Fox would likely have to persuade its local affiliates to give the network an 11 p.m. slot. The affiliates are now in control of that hour and all its advertising revenue, and many do fairly well in the ratings with reruns of old sitcoms.

There would also have to be complicated contractual issues worked out with NBC.

From TheWrap: Anatomy of a Late-Night Meltdown

To many, it had seemed a given that Leno would leave NBC for ABC or Fox when his time on "Tonight" ended, but he decided to stay with the company and try the 10 p.m. idea. ABC has indicated a lack of interest in O'Brien.

NBC's proposal would also shift its new talk show host, Fallon, to an hour best known for insomniacs, and put him a half-hour behind chief competitor Craig Ferguson on CBS. Gaspin tried to play it Sunday as a creative plus.

"It allows him to be incredibly experimental and do what he wants to do," Gaspin said. "There will be a lot less pressure on him."

The plan would also likely mark the end of Carson Daly's late-night show. Gaspin said he expected Daly to stay with NBC in some fashion.

 

[karamazov80]

Reading between the lines on that article, it sounds to me like NBC is really gonna do whatever they need to appease Leno, and the consequences be damned. "I would love the three of them to stay at NBC" seems pretty non-committal to me. Not exactly, "we are going to do whatever it takes to keep Conan here."

 

[Memnoch]

Reading between the lines on that article, it sounds to me like NBC is really gonna do whatever they need to appease Leno, and the consequences be damned. "I would love the three of them to stay at NBC" seems pretty non-committal to me. Not exactly, "we are going to do whatever it takes to keep Conan here."

I see Conan jumping to Fox. I know I would. NBC is a sinking ship anyway that without Law and Order probably would have been dead already.

 

[Darklord Dave]

Stuart and Colbert are the only late night I need. Conan always came off as too needy and wierd. Letterman was great - but I just don't have time for him any more.

 

[The Mike]

I did love the Letterman joke that has been circulating where he said "I didn't get the Tonight Show.....again."

 

[The Craw]

i really only watch conan. he's the only one that makes me laugh. i used to watch letterman til he started having all these stupid "will it float" or "is this anything" skits. i liked it when he used to go outside more and cause havok.

 

[LChinoz]

Conan gave a few good jabs at NBC last night, I thought it was awesome

 

[Batty]

Conan has released an official statement. It stinks that NBC is screwing him over.

People of Earth:

In the last few days, I've been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I've been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I've been absurdly lucky. That said, I've been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.

But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.

Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn't the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn't matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.

There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.

Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it's always been that way.

Yours,

Conan

 

[pixletwin]

He should never have poked fun at the mormons. This is God's doing.

 

[LOTRFan]

He should never have poked fun at the mormons. This is gods' doing.

Fixed.

 

[LChinoz]

Stay strong Conan, NBC is like the Titanic now anyway. JUMP!

 

[ortiz344]

Stay strong Conan, NBC is like the Titanic now anyway. JUMP!

too late conan quit

 

[pixletwin]

too late conan quit

I believe that is what he meant when he said "JUMP!".